Lesley Metcalfe

Clockwise from top-left: Abbey's Kitchen; This Wild Heart; Bonjour Bliss; PrettyLittleWings; No Tummy Mommy; Love and Sundays

It takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to prepare to have that child, and I've been utilizing all the resources that I can get my hands on as I go through this pregnancy. My go-to and most trusted sources are friends who are already moms, and friends who are also having babies at the same time as me, but I've also been reading a ton from books, online magazines and blogs. I wanted to share a handful of my favourite online sites that I keep going back to for information and inspiration.

Abbey's Kitchen

Abbey Sharp is a Registered Dietician and the food blogger behind Abbey's Kitchen. I've been reading her blog for years and I love trying her recipes and reading her articles about nutrition. I've even interviewed her and wrote a feature about her for my #WeWantToKnow series a couple of years ago and to this day I still incorporate takeaways from our conversation into my cooking and outlook on food and nutrition. Abbey gave birth to her first child earlier this year and her posts about pregnancy, and now motherhood, have been my top source for info. As a Registered Dietician, she naturally discusses healthy eating and nutrition during pregnancy, but she also writes about her struggles with breastfeeding, the truth about drinking alcohol during breastfeeding, essential items to pack in your hospital bag, dealing with mom guilt over the struggle between baby/career, and so much more.

This Wild Heart

Lifestyle blogger Esther Lee of This Wild Heart gave birth to her first child late last year and she has been a great source of information and inspiration. I learned a lot from her list of baby registry must-haves, took inspiration from her nursery reveal, and I'm just an overall fan of her lifestyle posts that she shares on Instagram.

PrettyLittleWings

Speaking of Instagram, I've been taking maternity fashion inspiration from Stella Lu (Instagram: @pretty.little.wings). She also had a baby this year and the outfits she wore in her bump pics are totally my style. She also does interior design and now that she's had her baby she's been sharing her design projects. I especially loved how she decorated her nursery!

No Tummy Mommy

Trisha Enriquez a.k.a. the "No Tummy Mommy" has a blog of the same name and she has been one of my sources for fitness inspiration. I like her positive approach to health and fitness, that it's not about being thin, it's about being strong, and I really like how she is passing these values onto her young daughter. She is another one on this list who had a baby this year, having given birth to her second daughter, so I've been benefiting from reading her recent posts on pregnancy and post-partum fitness.

Love and Sundays

Another new mom this year, Thanh is the blogger behind Love and Sundays - she just gave birth to her second daughter and her posts on pregnancy, motherhood and life in general have been a source of inspiration for me.

Bonjour Bliss

My girl Roxanne West is the blogger behind lifestyle site Bonjour Bliss. She's the only one on this list who isn't a new mom, but she has two littles of her own who are now around the ages of 3 and 5 years old, so she's got a ton of experience at being a mom and she shares her motherhood journey and family life on her blog. Roxanne and her husband do everything with their kids, including a lot of travel, and I look up to them for #familygoals. They're also experienced at doing their own home renovations (I think their current home is their third reno now...?), which is also shared on Bonjour Bliss, and I relate to all of Roxanne's design choices, we share the same taste in design!

What To Expect When You're Expecting

As I already mentioned in my first trimester update post, the What To Expect series has been my bible. I'm almost finished the book - I've even gone back and read certain chapters over again and it's littered with sticky notes so I can reference certain parts quickly. I refer to the What To Expect app almost everyday, and I have What To Expect The First Year sitting on my bedside table, which I will start reading soon.

Honourable mentions: A couple of other sites that I like to read articles from are Scary Mommy and Baby Centre, and I've also been spending a lot of time reading Canadian parenting sites from my app WantCanada, particularly Yummy Mummy Club, Today's Parent and Savvy Sassy Moms.

If you're just starting out on your pregnancy journey, I hope you'll find these resources as helpful as I did! What are some of your favourite sites that are helping you get through pregnancy and parenthood?

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